Harry Potter and the New Beginning
by Annika Richards
Summary: Harry's new life starts out normal, but has some very drastic turns. He's in danger now, and doesn't know where to begin. Can he find the solution to a death causing problem before it's too late?
1. Chapter 1

"Harry! Wake up Harry!" Harry sat bolt upright. He wasn't used to someone waking him up in the morning, especially not Mrs. Weasley. Today would be his last in the Weasley cottage. He was finally getting married! Then it dawned on him.

"The wedding's today, right?" Harry asked, hastily hiding the ring he had bought for his soon to be wife. After waiting a while for an answer, he realized that Mrs. Weasley had left the room. He sighed and lay back down.

"Harry?" Ginny had entered the room. Harry sat up. "Why aren't you awake? Mum got you up ten minutes ago." Harry groped for his glasses. When he found them, he shoved them onto his face, now able to see clearly.

"Where's Teddy? I haven't seen him." Harry asked. Teddy Lupin was now an official member of the Potter family, for his parents had died in battle no more than four years ago, and Remus Lupin, Teddy's father, had deemed Harry as his godfather.

"I haven't seen him either. I suppose he is still sleeping." Ginny said reassuringly. As she walked closer, Harry noticed how her red hair glittered in the sunlight streaming through the window.

"Well, keep an eye on him. He's been getting into trouble lately." Harry said. Teddy had ruined the first wedding cake by putting it on the floor for Crookshanks to taste, and also ruined the punch by pouring it into the garden for the gnomes.

"You should probably get up. The wedding is in two hours." Ginny kissed his forehead and left the room, closing the door behind her. Harry got ready as fast as he could. Two hours! The wedding starts in two hours! Two hours until he could move out. It had gotten awfully crowded in the Burrow since Hermione and Ron got married about four months ago. Ginny entered the room

again.

"I think you aught to get going. As of now, its one and a half hours until the wedding." Harry sighed and pulled on his dress-robes and spent the rest of his time trying to flatten his unruly hair. All this time, Ginny was watching him with her beautiful, golden brown eyes. When he finally abandoned his feeble attempt to tame his hair, Ginny left to clean up for the big event.

When Harry finally trod down the stairs, Ginny was already waiting for him. Instead of going over to her, Harry walked over to Ron. Ron had told him not to bother Ginny when Mrs. Weasley was fussing over her.

"Um…Ron?" Harry asked his best friend. He was nervous, but knew that Ron had been through this himself.

"Mhm." Ron answered, clearly not paying attention, his eyes fixed on a copy of The Daily Prophet.

Harry got even more nervous, then frustrated. If Ron wasn't going to pay attention, then why should he tell him? Harry told him anyway.

"I don't know if I can do this. I mean….it's Ginny." Harry said, relieved when Ron finally looked up from his copy of The Daily Prophet. He was even more relieved when Ron spoke.

"I know how you feel mate." Ron said, a kind of twinkle in his eye. Harry wasn't used to this look, and became wary of his best friend's change of attitude.

"So…it's normal?" Harry said cautiously. He still had a feeling that something was about to happen.

"Of course it is! It happens to the best of us men!" Ron said, his fiery orange mustache twitching and his eyes laughing with amusement. Harry however, was not amused. He just stared at Ron, having a laughing fit and rolling on the ground.

Ron!" Mrs. Weasley's booming voice almost scared Harry to death. She had apparently finished with Ginny, and had come over to see what all the commotion was about. She gave Ron a stern look, obviously as annoyed as Harry was.

"It was only a joke!" Ron protested, sounding like a little kid.

"Joke or no joke, it is still your friend's wedding, so don't ruin it!" Mrs. Weasley shouted. Harry was sure he heard her swear when she turned her back to them and walked outside to see how the construction of the tent was going. He sighed and looked at Ron.

"What?!" Ron snapped. His cheeks pink, looking slightly embarrassed that his mum had yelled at him.

"What was that for?! We are adults if you hadn't noticed, and you go rolling on the floor like an eleven year old, laughing your head off at some inside joke that no one but you gets! She's right your mum! You will ruin my special day!" Harry was sick of Ron. He was sick of Ron treating him like a child, when they both knew, of course, that he had been through more than Ron had in the past five years. Harry glared at Ron one last time and stomped out of the room to be with Ginny, though he didn't know why of course, for they would soon be together for life. "Anyway," he thought. "I'll still have to make it up to him later."

It wasn't until noon when it got busy around the Burrow. Mrs. Weasley was cleaning, George was putting out tables, Ron cleaning the chicken coop, looking thoroughly depressed, and Mr. Weasley was putting up more tents, beaming at everyone who passed him. Harry and Hermione were watching the Weasleys' set up and Ginny was frantically trying to smooth a bump in her dress

Finally, it was time for the wedding. Everyone the Weasleys knew had come. Luna, Neville, Dean, Seamus, Xenophilious Lovegood, and many others had come.

The gloriously white pillars of the tent stood out against the clear sky. The wedding was more beautiful than Harry could imagine. He hadn't wanted Mrs. Weasley to go to extremes to impress him, although, the pillars that had Gryffindore colors wrapped around them were very plain, just like he wanted them to be. Even as the music played and Ginny, wearing a beautiful silk dress, floated down the center of the largest tent, Harry still wasn't sure if he had made the right choice, but as soon as the music stopped, he knew that he had made the right choice.


	2. Chapter 2

It had been two days since the wedding, and Harry was sitting on a couch listening to Mr. Weasley give Ginny and him a "You are on your own" lecture, and he realized, in his daydreams, that five years ago to the day, he had boarded the Hogwarts Express for the last time. It felt weird not going to meet the train on platform 9 ¾ , but he enjoyed being with the Weasleys while he and Ginny looked for a house. Ron and Hermione were also looking for a house, so they were staying at the Weasley's too.

That night, they all sat around the table eating a delicious stew that Mrs. Weasley had mad, when Hermione got up, followed by Ron, and signaled Harry to follow her. Ginny also followed Harry, Ron, and Hermione into the bedroom that Ron and Hermione shared. Hermione walked in, turned the lights on, shut the curtains, and locked the door behind the four of them. Both Hermione and Ron sat down, but Ginny and Harry were still standing. Finally, Hermione spoke.

"Harry, we've got to tell you something." Hermione said hoarsely. Her tone worried Harry. He looked over at Ginny and she looked very confused. Hermione went on. "You know how Ron works in the Department of Mysteries, right? Well, he's not allowed to talk about this, but we really think you should know." Her eyes shone with tears. She looked at Ron. This time, he spoke.

"Harry, they've been talking about a new prophecy concerning you. History is going to repeat itself." Ron took a breath.

"Which means that you and Ginny are going to die!" Hermione blurted out, bursting into tears. Ron put his arm around a sobbing Hermione, and Harry looked at Ginny. She was chalk white.

"Ginny, are you alright?" Harry said quietly. Ginny didn't respond. "Ginny? Ginny, are you okay? Ginny!" Harry was panicking. Ginny still didn't respond.

She collapsed unexpectedly, and lay on the floor and everyone around her stared in shock. Harry rushed forward and checked for a pulse. Her heart was beating. He let out a breath he didn't know he had been holding. "She's alive." He announced. Hermione, who was puffy-eyed from crying, got up.

"I'll get help." She said in a strangled voice. No more than two minutes later, Mrs. Weasley burst into the room and knelt down beside Ginny's ghostly figure laying on the floor. They all waited in silence until she spoke.

"She'll be alright. She just fainted. Does anyone know what happened?" Ron shifted uncomfortably. "Ron?" Mrs. Weasley glared at him.

"I'm not supposed to talk about it. It's not important. She just overreacted." Rom said at little too quickly.

"Fine. Don't bother her. She needs to rest. Everyone downstairs." She said sternly. Then she saw Harry heading downstairs with the others. "Harry dear, you can stay. She's your wife." Harry and Mrs. Weasley carried Ginny to the bedroom that they shared and laid her down on the floral patterned sheets. "Call if you need me." Mrs. Weasley whispered, giving Harry a sympathetic smile. Then she left the room and closed the door behind her.


	3. Chapter 3

"Harry?" A small voice whispered. Harry looked at Ginny to see if she was awake, but realized that it wasn't her at all. Then he realized who it was.

"Hermione, is that you?" Harry whispered back.

"Yes." Came the small voice from the door again. "Ron and I need to talk to you."

"Be right there." Harry kissed Ginny's forehead and followed Hermione downstairs to where the others were waiting. He turned to look at her, and saw that her eyes were still puffy, but she looked excited as well. In the living room, Harry saw Ron, Mrs. Weasley, Mr. Weasley, George, Angelina, Fleur, Bill, Percy, and Charlie sat. He sat down with them.

Ron was the first to speak. "We have something to tell everyone."

"Kingsley is after Harry." Harry looked around at the others, whose expressions had not changed. Harry concluded that they had already heard the news.

"Dumbledore said something like this would happen." Mr. Weasley said, sounding grim. Suddenly, nausea hit Harry like a wave of warm water and he fell onto his knees, his head spinning. He moaned and everything started to fade. Then, someone slipped what tasted like butterscotch hard candy into his mouth and everything started to clear up, the sudden nausea slowly going away. He stood up. George was grinning, Mr. and Mrs. Weasley glaring at him and Ron and Hermione looking just as confused as the rest of them. A look of disgust grew across Hermione's face and she lost all control she had over herself.

"How could you?! I thought you sold all of those things!" Hermione yelled. "Ron, tell him how wrong that was of him!" Hermione demanded. Ron still looked utterly bewildered.

"Sorry. Don't know what just happened." Ron said, looking at Harry and mouthing "HELP ME". Harry grimaced and shook his head. Hermione sighed, exasperated. This expression was so familiar that Harry almost laughed.

"Don't you understand?! George was working on a Fainting Fancy that takes time to activate and he tested it on Harry. That was the counterpart that he gave Harry just now!" Hermione exclaimed. Ron's mustache twitched, but he seemed to change his mind at the last minute. A very convincing look of shock and disbelief flew across his face. Hermione bought it.

"What? No….." Ron said, his voice as convincing as his facial expression. George grinned even more, realizing that Ron was faking.

"Yup." He said. Then his face fell. "This won't affect my massive orders for dungbombs, will it?" He said, mock concern in his voice. Mrs. Weasley gave him a look.

"Harry, go to bed. We're going to Diagon Alley tomorrow if you are well enough." She said sternly. George grinned.

"Off to bed! Pip pip!" He exclaimed, as Harry climbed the stairs to his bedroom. Harry's heart ached. That was exactly what Dumbledore would have said when he was at Hogwarts. Soon enough, he fell into a deep and dreamless sleep, right next to Ginny, and forgot all of the sad memories that had hit him minutes before.

That night he dreamed of Dumbledore. It was the beginning of term feast and everyone was sitting together. Seamus, Dean, Ginny, Ron, Hermione, and Malfoy. He looked at the other end of the table and saw….Voldemort. He woke up with a start, breathing fast and sweating. It wasn't real. Voldemort was dead. Convincing himself that he just wasn't used to made-up dreams, he fell back asleep.


	4. Chapter 4

That morning, Harry woke up to see Ginny already dressed and waiting for him. She still looked pale, but managed to give him a weak smile. Then she started to cry. Harry, who was reaching for his glasses, shoved them on his face and walked over to her. Ginny ran to him and sobbed uncontrollably into his arms. "It's going to be okay." Harry whispered. He kissed her forehead. "It's all going to be okay." He said even quieter.

…

The rest of the morning, Mrs. Weasley fussed over Ginny and Hermione. Mrs. Weasley tried to keep Ginny from going to Diagon Alley with them, but she shook her head, stepped away, and grabbed Harry's hand. Her hand was cold and clammy, and gripping Harry's like she would lose him at any moment. Harry put an arm around her and he, Ginny, Hermione, and Ron held hands and turned on the spot.

They walked through the brick archway to Diagon alley, and were confronted by reporters from The Daily Prophet. Harry had been trying to stay at the Weasley's to prevent from being publicized anymore than "Harry Potter, the Boy Who Lived, finally defeated the wizard known as Lord Voldemort", and a few pictures in the Prophet, so naturally, this overwhelmed him.

"Okay, who tipped the Ministry off on my plans for the week?" Harry said, slightly annoyed, once they got around the mob of reporters. Ron looked at the ground and his ears turned red.

"I did. Sorry mate. I wasn't thinking." Ron said sheepishly. Harry sighed.

"Seriously, Ron! Think a little deeper next time!" Hermione said

exasperated, looking up towards the sky. Harry snorted and looked over at Ginny, who was also looking at the ground. He squeezed her hand and she looked up.

"Shall we go to the Magical Menageries then?" Hermione said, leading them to a shop with many animals crammed in the small display window. Harry knew exactly why Hermione wanted to go in there; Harry had lost his owl, Hedwig, four years ago during a fight with broom-riding Death Eaters. Hermione intended for him to pick out another owl.

This time, however, Harry's eyes fell on a beautiful, brindle colored cat. She sat, looking curiously at Harry, with her head tilted to the left. She put her paw out in the air in front of her, as if to shake Harry's hand.

"Harry! Look at her! Isn't she beautiful?" Hermione called to him. She was standing by a barbed wire cage, with a magnificent snowy owl perched inside of it. As if on queue, the owl snapped her beak menacingly and lunged, coming in contact with the barbed wire.

"Look! Isn't she wonderful?" Hermione said adoringly.

"Um…..sure….wonderful…" Harry looked at the bridle cat again. "What about this one? Ginny, come look." Harry looked around. "Ginny?" Harry looked out the shop window. The street was empty, as it rarely ever was. "Hermione, have you seen Ginny?" Harry asked anxiously.

"Why, no. I thought she was with you." Hermione said, looking very surprised.

"She's not! I looked everywhere! I can't find her!" Harry said, panicking now. He was breathing fast and his heart felt like it was going to beat out of his chest. He felt a lump forming in his throat. He tried to swallow, but couldn't. Where could Ginny be?


	5. Chapter 5

They had been looking for hours. They couldn't find Ginny and Harry couldn't bear the thought of Ginny lost and alone, or else, dead.

He sat down on the front step of Flourish and Blottes. Suddenly, his scar burned white hot. After four years of peace and quiet, Harry didn't expect this. He gripped his forehead and cried out in pain.

A woman screamed, a man laughed, dark shadows appeared in a dim alley in front of him. The woman screamed again, and Harry glided through the darkened alley. A woman and a man came into view. The man laughed again. This time, Harry realized it was coming from him. He pulled out his wand as he entered the next street and shouted, "CRUCIO!". The woman screamed in pain and agony. Harry realized that the scream belonged to Ginny.

His head gave a horrible throb, and the terrifying scene faded away, leaving him panting on the doorstep of Flourish and Blotts, the whole wizarding community staring where Harry lay gasping for breath, tears streaming down his cheeks. He sat up and saw Hermione pushing through the crowd, followed by Ron.

"Harry! What's wrong?!" She said anxiously. Then, she saw Harry rubbing is scar. She stepped closer and bent down. "Is it your scar, Harry?" Hermione whispered worriedly, Ron standing confused behind her.

What about his scar?" Ron said loudly.

"Ssshhh! Ron!" Hermione glared at him.

"Sorry! What about his scar?" He said more quietly.

"Come on Harry, we'll talk at the Burrow." Hermione said reassuringly. Harry didn't move. He shook his head.

"No! It's Ginny I know where she is!" He gasped between sobs. His scar burned so badly that he felt like he was going to puke. The back of his head was equally as bad where he had hit it on the concrete steps.

"Harry, where is she?" Hermione asked quietly.

"Kn-kn– Knockturn– Knockturn Alley." Harry stammered, still gasping for breath.

"Come on! Let's go!" Hermione said anxiously, looking at the assembled crowd around them. She grabbed Ron and Harry by the arm and turned on the spot into pressing darkness.

Harry fell flat on his stomach and Hermione helped him up. They had miraculously landed in the same dim-lit alley that he had seen in his vision. A thin woman with flaming red hair lay under a flickering street–lamp.

"Ginny!" Harry yelled, stumbling over to her. He felt a heartbeat but she was unconscious. He scooped her up in his arms and half ran-half stumbled over to Ron and Hermione, who stood shocked at the sight of Ginny laying limp, almost lifeless in his arms. "Let's go." Harry gasped, still weak from his vision. He, Ron, and Hermione apparated out of Knockturn Alley and right to the doorstep of the Burrow.

Harry burst through the door with a bang and yelled for help. Everything started to get blurry and started to fade. Just as he was about to fall, someone took Ginny from his arms. Then, everything went black and Harry hit the ground with a thud.


End file.
